Megan Oldham of Canada found gold in Italy on Monday night, weathering an hour-plus delay for heavy wind and snow to avenge her 4th-place finish from four years ago and outduel 2022 Olympic champion Eileen Gu, who claimed her second silver of the Milan Cortina Games. Italy's Flora Tabanelli took bronze.
Beijing bronze medalist Mathilde Gremaud of Switzerland, a heavy medal contender and Saturday's No. 3 qualifier, did not compete after a hard crash in pre-competition training left her with a hip injury. Teammate Anouk Andraska also went down in training, injuring her wrist.
Oldham, last week's slopestyle bronze medalist behind Gremaud and Gu, opened with a switch left double cork 1260 safety grab (91.75) — a trick only she and Gremaud have ever landed — then followed up with a classic left double cork 1260 mute grab (89.00) to total 180.75.
"I'm on cloud nine right now. I'm still processing everything," Oldham said. "I'm so proud of myself for being able to come out here and land the tricks that I wanted tonight and to show my best skiing and just make Canada proud."
A native of Parry Sound, Ontario, Oldham missed the Beijing big air podium by fewer than 5 points, and in the immediate leadup to Milan Cortina, she finished 4th and 5th at the past two world championships and took bronze at last month's Winter X Games. Oldham also revealed she suffered a "really bad" concussion in a December crash, one she wasn't sure she could come back from.
"I knew it would be really close," Oldham said. "Eileen is such a technical skier, and she put out two really solid runs there. So I definitely was a little bit nervous, but also just so proud to have my tricks up there with one of the best."
San Francisco-born Gu effortlessly stomped her opening right double cork 1440 (90.00), then missed the tail grab and nearly went down on her second-run left double cork 1260, a trick she said she learned during training. She cleaned it up on her final attempt (89.00), vaulting into 2nd place, then celebrated in the corral by hugging her mom and best friends. The Stanford University student now owns five career Olympic medals.
"One thing about me is I love to compete and I love to challenge myself. And this is the time. If not now, then when?" Gu said. "So this is my moment to just do my best and put it all out there. And it's the same as the 16[20] of the last Olympics, where I would never regret trying."
Tabanelli took the bronze with a 178.25 while skiing on a torn right ACL, punctuating her night with a massive left double 1620 on her final run — the same trick Gu used to secure gold in the 2022 final — for Italy's first-ever Olympic freestyle skiing medal. The 18-year-old won both Winter X Games and the world title in 2025 before injuring the knee in November while training in Austria. She opted for rehab instead of surgery in order to compete in Italy.
"It feels like a miracle. … I thought I wouldn't make it here," Tabanelli said. "This medal is a confirmation for myself. It's a confirmation that I can do it, despite my injury or anything else."
In a social media post, Gremaud said she was "all good" and had "soft tissue contusions around her hip and lower back" requiring a night at the hospital to ensure everything stays stable.
"It was a scary one," she wrote. "I was super lucky and I mostly just will be sore for a while but everything should be good!"
This would have been the fourth Olympic final to feature Gremaud and Gu, had Gremaud not been injured. They both reached the podium in each of their first three meetings and, before tonight, had won all three gold medals in those events.
Saturday’s qualifying marked Gu’s first big air contest since her gold in 2022. The 22-year-old will compete next in halfpipe — scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 19, at 1:30 p.m. ET — her third event of the Games.
Women's Freeski Big Air Final
🥇 Megan Oldham, Canada (180.75)
🥈 Eileen Gu, China (179.00)
🥉 Flora Tabanelli, Italy (178.25)
4. Kirsty Muir, Great Britain (174.75)
5. Lara Wolf, Austria (169.75)
6. Naomi Urness, Canada (168.75)
7. Liu Mengting, China (166.00)
8. Anni Karava, Finland (164.25)
9. Maria Gasslitter, Italy (159.25)
10. Kateryna Kotsar, Ukraine (156.00)
DNS Mathilde Gremaud, Switzerland
DNS Anouk Andraska, Switzerland